09-28-2020, 03:52 PM
(09-28-2020, 03:27 PM)TJHoushmandzadeh Wrote: Whilst everyone is baying for Jim Turner, Zac Taylor and/or Lou Anarumo's blood, it is difficult to make in season changes. You don't have time to implement new schemes, there are limited options as teams won't release coaches mid-season and teams are therefore often limited to in-house appointments.
What changes can be made today?
Well the obvious one to me is firing Duke Tobin. Do you want him overseeing the next draft - a likely top 10 pick again - when he's been responsible for drafting Ogbuehi, Price, Ross etc? He's the one responsible for the (lack of) talent on the o-line that 3 successive O-line coaches have struggled with. If Taylor goes at the end of the season, do you want him choosing Zac's replacement?
We all know the problems with drafting. That the Bengals whiffed on their first round pick 3 out of 4 years (the more recent ones are too recent to score) and that it's been 7 drafts since the Bengals last selected a Pro-Bowler. Burrow should change that but that shouldn't be enough to absolve the front office of blame for a string of disappointing drafts.
The roster management has been abysmal - from carrying two kickers now, to the mess they've made with QBs (holding onto Dolegala all last year only to cut him; trading up for Finley, only to draft a QB one overall the following year) and betrays a lack of planning. The Bengals are spending less on the O-line this year with a rookie superstar QB than they did last year with a QB on a veteran deal and an O-line that sucked. They are paying more for the back-up running back than they are at Guard (XSF, Jordan, Johnson and Calhoun) and then wondering why they can't run the ball or keep their face of the franchise clean.
And it's not just money but also draft capital - in the last 8 years they've spent 3x2nd round picks, 1x4th round pick (Mark Walton!), 3x6th round picks on RB whilst spending 1x1st (Billy Price), 2x4ths (Bodine and Jordan), 3x5th (JJ Dielman, Tanner Hawkinson, Westerman), and 2x7ths (Rod Taylor and TJ Johnson) on the three interior line positions - during which period they also let Zeitler walk.
If the right replacement for Tobin is out there (and I don't know who that would be, suggestions welcome) it would make a lot of sense to get them in now so they can assess the roster - and coaching staff - and prepare for the draft now.
True, we have not had any transformational drafts recently.
getting 1, 2 decent starters per draft plus a backup was fine when we were living off the drafts from early 2010's and the squad strength and depth was good.
I do put onto Tobin the long term drafting/FA activity of certain position groups like OL and LB which has been truly awful for a number of years.
This year has felt different though - the consensus did seem to be with drafting and FA the coaching staff have got talent to work with..so right now in 2020 my feeling is that ZT is more deserving of the hotseat than Tobin
